Subject: History & Memory conference
From: Sonya Jones <[email-masked]>
To: Louie Crew <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 97 17:06:37 -0500

Hi Louie, please run this press release ASAP.  Thanks, Sonya

FOR  IMMEDIATE RELEASE
								 
CONTACT: Lynda Terry
								 
(814) 332-6755

ALLEGHENY TO HOST GAY/LESBIAN
LITERATURE CONFERENCE

	MEADVILLE, Pa. -- March 31, 1997 -- Allegheny College will  
host several leading scholars and authors of gay and lesbian  
literature, theatre and film on Friday, April 11 through Sunday,  
April 13 for a conference titled "History and Memory: Gay & Lesbian  
Literature Since World War II."
	John DeCecco, editor of The Journal of Homosexuality and a  
1946 Allegheny graduate, will deliver the keynote address, "The  
Twilight of the Sciences and the Dawn of the Liberal Arts in the  
Understanding of Homosexuality," Friday evening.
	Conference Director Sonya Jones, professor of English at  
Allegheny, conceived of the idea for the symposium while editing a  
special issue of The Journal of Homosexuality (which will be  
released as a book from Haworth Press in 1998). Noting an increasing  
scholarly interest in gay and lesbian literary texts since World  
War II and the significant changes reflected in this writing, Jones  
decided to bring together some of the individuals at the forefront  
of gay scholarship and writing.
	"One of the primary aims of the conference is to build  
bridges between scholars and creative writers," said Jones. "To have  
DeCecco under the same roof with lesbian author Bertha Harris is  
almost unthinkable."
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Allegheny to Host Gay/Lesbian Literature Conference  .  .  . Add One
	Jones also stated that David Bergman, one of the leading  
scholars in gay studies, will lead off the plenary talks Saturday  
morning, and the conference will offer readings by Christopher  
Leland and Sarah Schulman in addition to Harris.  Added Jones:  "The  
difference in this conference is that we've put the writers on  
panels with the scholars. The dialogue promises to be substantive  
and invigorating."
	Allegheny's Winslow Lecture in Religion will be delivered  
this year as part of the conference, and will feature Dorothy Austin  
of Drew University. She will deliver an address titled "Gays and  
Lesbians in the Christian Context" on Sunday the 13th at 8:15 p.m.  
in Ford Chapel. She also will give the Sunday ecumenical service  
sermon, "The Spirituality of Hospitality: The Challenge of Religious  
Pluralism in Our Times," in the chapel at 10:45 a.m.
	DeCecco is a well-known and respected scholar in gay and  
lesbian studies. He is professor of psychology at San Francisco  
State University and director of the Center for Research and  
Education in Sexuality. Editor of The Journal of Homosexuality since  
1977, he also edits the gay/lesbian studies book list for Haworth  
Press. He earned both his master's degree and his doctorate in  
history from the University of Pennsylvania, then did seven years of  
post-doctoral work in psychology at both Wayne State and Michigan  
State universities. He has published numerous books, articles and  
papers, and appeared on national television as a commentator  
regarding  controversial homosexuality research and related issues.
	Allegheny Class of 1982 alumna Carolyn Kyler, associate  
professor of English at Washington and Jefferson College and vice  
president of the Lambda Foundation, Pittsburgh, will
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Allegheny to Host Gay/Lesbian Literature Conference  .  .  .  Add Two
welcome participants Friday at 8:15 p.m. in Carnegie 212. Sonya  
Jones then will give a brief conference address prior to DeCecco's  
keynote address. A reception, sponsored by the Allegheny Gay and  
Lesbian Alumni Caucus, will follow in the student-run coffeehouse  
"Grounds for Change," located on the third floor of Henderson Campus  
Center.
	Speakers for Saturday and Sunday will cover a range of  
topics, including discussions of Latino novels on AIDS, lesbian and  
feminist influences on alternative publishing, Indian texts, and the  
works of James Baldwin, Bertha Harris and Dale Peck.  The  
conference also will feature panels on queer theory in film and  
theatre, religion and homoerotics, wartime stories and metaphors,  
postcolonialist theory, the "Lesbian Seventies," and directions in  
gay and lesbian fiction. Speakers and panelists represent a wide  
range of higher educational institutions, including Brown  
University,  Cornell University, Mount Holyoke College, Penn State  
University, Vanderbilt University and York University in Canada.
	Fees for the conference are $90 for the full conference,  
$50 for single days, and $15 for evening sessions only; free for  
college students with  ID. For more information about the conference  
or to register, contact Sonya Jones at (814) 332-4339 or Kristy  
Whisker, assistant to the director, at (814) 332-2530.
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